Dare LWV to sponsor ed board candidate forum, several others derailed by ‘insufficient acceptances’

By Mark Jurkowitz | Outer Banks Voice on September 17, 2026

By Mark Jurkowitz | Outer Banks Voice

The Dare County League of Women Voters (LWV) has announced it will sponsor one candidate forum prior to the Nov. 3 election—an Oct. 14 event for the candidates seeking a seat on the Dare County Board of Education.

The candidates for the open District 1 seat are Republican Stephen Nichols and Democrat Kelleta Govan. In District 3, Rich Shope is running as a Republican and Mary Robinson is running a write-in campaign.

In addition to the Oct. 14 forum, an LWV official told the Voice that the organization had also hoped to hold forums for the candidates in the Dare County Commissioner race and for the District 1 NC House and District 1 NC Senate seats.

“We were not able to schedule the two additional candidate forums due to insufficient acceptances of our invitations,” the official stated.  “Several candidates cited scheduling difficulties.”

The Voice asked the candidates in those races if they had accepted or declined the forum invitation from the LWV.

The only contested Board of Commissioners race features Democrat Aida Havel challenging incumbent Republican Ervin Bateman for the At-Large seat. Havel said she accepted the forum invitation. Bateman told the Voice that the LWV reached out with an Oct. 8 forum date, but his calendar was filled that day. He asked for another date, but the logistics didn’t work out. “I’m sorry, but that’s how it is,” he said.

In the District 1 NC House race, Republican incumbent Ed Goodwin is facing Democrat Miriam Rolllin. She told the Voice that she accepted the forum invitation from the LWV. The Voice reached out to Goodwin’s office, which did not respond by the deadline for this story.

In the District 1 NC Senate contest, Republican Jerry Tillett (who is currently serving out Bobby Hanig’s term) is competing against Democrat Melissa Zehner. Tillett told the Voice that “I sent two responses to the League saying I would be unavailable for the forum event,” but added that he told the LWV he would meet with groups in the district.  Zehner said she accepted the invitation for October 6 and was willing to provide more dates.

The LWV statement noted that as a nonpartisan organization, “we could not hold forums for candidates for contested seats with only the representative of one major party participating.”

The Board of Education candidate forum scheduled for Oct. 14 will start at 7 p.m. in the Dare Board of Commissioners Meeting Room. The LWV says voters can email questions for the candidates up to three days prior to the forum to lwvdareforums@gmail.com. Submissions must include your name and town. In addition, questions will be collected from the audience during the forums. Questions will not be shared with any candidates or voters prior to the forum night.